Teachers Share their Experiences While Living Abroad!

Cafes, cafes everywhere. Huge chains. Themed paradises. Underground gems. One never needs to look too far to find a place to enjoy a cup of coffee and a cute, delicious array of desserts. It is truly one of the charms of Korean culture. Cafes are places to study, work, catch up with friends, or get to know a new love interest. In the mornings, cafes offer a peaceful environment to work, study or wake up with a strong brew. The atmosphere completely changes once it hits around 5PM, and everyone is meeting friends and lovers after work or school. All cafes become packed. One must first find a seat, reserve it, then order. Employees tone down their establishment’s lights and change their playlist for proper socializing.

Cindy Ung is a ChungDahm Learning alumnus whom I met during our training week back in the winter of 2011. Not only have I had the privilege of being friends with Cindy, she also introduced me to Aclipse Recruiting. Originally from New York City, Cindy studied at Rutgers University where she was able to learn about teaching opportunities in Korea. Wanting to broaden her perspectives of the world, she lived and worked for ChungDahm in Seoul for two years and since leaving ChungDahm over 3 years ago, she has become a successful real estate agent in New York City. However, every year during her vacation she always opts to come back and visit Seoul for the week. When I ask her why doesn’t she go travel to another country, she always says that that Korea has become her second home. For many of us teaching in Korea, I think Korea will always have a special place in our hearts just like hers. Below are Cindy’s top 5 reasons why she continues to come back to Korea.

Korea is known as the fashion capital of Asia. In recent years, its fashion industry has increased the number of Asian tourists flocking to Korea to shop. When walking through Seoul fashion districts, the bustling crowds are full of Chinese, Japanese and Singaporean tourists who have just come to Korea to for clothes. Asian tourists travel to Korea for a shopping holiday and this has become more and more popular in the years since I arrived. When traveling to Taiwan and Beijing alike, the first words that the locals always say to me when knowing I live in Korea is “K-pop, K-drama and K-fashion.”

During my time in Korea, I've been lucky enough to have a fair number of visitors. My best friend is currently visiting from back home in the U.S., and as I've been pulling her around Seoul to the spots I deem the most interesting and picturesque, I realized that I've got this tour guide thing down to a science. So whether you're new to Korea yourself or you're expecting visitors during your time here, let this be a guide for the spots you should definitely see.

Seoul is known as the partying capital of Korea. An equivalent to the Asian ‘New York’, it is a city that never sleeps. You will see party goers coming home from clubs and bars at 6 a.m. in the morning. There are no curfews and no time limits. Seoul is always buzzing and it is a perfect city to find your inner party spirit and weekend energy.

I've recently decided that I am on a mission to explore all the odd and quirky cafes that Korea has to offer. (Luckily, there are lots and lots of them.) Since the weather isn't terribly out-of-doors-friendly right now, it seems like a good time to start checking them off my list. Right at the top of that list for my friends and I was a board game cafe, which we easily found in the Gangnam area of Seoul.

One of the things I found myself wondering about when I moved to Korea to teach English is what the holidays would be like. Granted holidays can range from the big boys like Christmas, to the ones we celebrate just for the excuse to party (hump day anyone?). Lucky for me and you, Koreans LOVE to party, so most holidays here are celebrated and always a fun time. This past weekend we ventured into Seoul, Gangnam to be exact, for Tomatillo’s Annual Cinco de Mayo party. It was definitely one of my favorite days in Korea and I know that for as long as I stay here, this is where I’ll celebrate Mexican independence.

I arrived in Korea last July as a wide eyed and somewhat bewildered Westerner who truly had no idea what she was getting herself into. I’m not sure how it’s happened, but in the last nine months I’ve gone from a frightened tourist to a resident of Korea, and now I find myself calling this place my home.